The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-02-12

and the old lady's quiet words OF wisdom
were added to the discussion. Robert
still pleaded earnestly for family life to-
gether on the farm, and Rose still pas
sionately houted his plan, insisting that
they should go out into the world to seek
their fortune. Finally it was decided
that Robert should keep the farm as q
home for the mother and grandmother,
and that Rose should go to the city to
make living, and "earn money for the
rest" she eagerly declared. And Lily?
What should be her fortune? AS they
waited for her decision, the color flushed
and paled in her face; her lips quivered,
but no words came. The silence was
broken presently by the grandmother's
gentle voice:
"Did you ever think, children" she
said, "of how often Gods call to higher
life came to his servants who were doing
hum-drum work? Moses, keeping his
father-in-law's sheep, was called to de-
liver whole nation; Gideon, threshing
wheat, was made captain of delivering
army; David, from the sheep-cote, was
raised to the throne; Elisha was taken
from his pillow to receive the word of God
to Israel; the prophet Amos came from
the herdmen of Tekoa, and" with an in
stant's reverent pause, the old lady add
ed softly" the Lord Jesus left car
penter's bench to save the world"
The summer twilight had deepened
into night; the full moon had risen, and
its light fell like a glory on Lily's up
lifted face, as she turned to the waiting
group about her.
81 choose the hum-drum life," she said
simply, and the family separated for the
night.
Five busy years of patient work and
endurance, self-denial, brave hope and
frequent disappointment, passed over
"Roseglen;" in that time the grandmother
went to her eternal home, leaving the
covenant blessing to her children's chill
dren; in that time the mother learned to
look more patiently and trustingly upon
life; the grandmother's peace of mind
seemed to rest upon her, as the prophets
mantle fell upon the companion he was
leaving. In that time Robert outgrew
his youth, and though not yet thirty
years old, wore the settled gravity of a
middle-aged man; cheerful he always
would be, bat his responsibility weighed
upon him, and would have been almost
too much for him to bear, except for
Lilly.
AS for Lily, the years treated her kind
ly; she found a hum-drum life pretty
much what Rose had represented it; hard
work and plain living. But she kept it
from the dullness Rose had dreaded, by
bringing to it an active, well-trained
mind and high sense of duty. And if
the grandmother's words still dwelt in
her mind, giving her sometimes little
thrill OF expectancy-ah, dreaming is one
of youths royal rights; we must not
quarrel with it.
Rose still defended her choice; she had
partly realized her ambition, too, of help
ing the family, and they were all quick
to acknowledge how much they owed her;
the boxes from the city were delightful
events to mother and sister; the books
from a secondhand book store; bits of
badly needed furniture, an occasional
carpet, made them often say, What
would we do without Rose?" Robert,
too, acknowledged that her checks had
more than once helped him out of the
mud, and if the girl wanted to triumph
over them she had abundant oppor-
tunity.
But Rose never seemed in a very tri-
umphant mood. In her brief visits to
"Roseglen" she presented striking coz.
trast to her sister, of which she seemed
fretfully conscious. Lily had fulfilled,
physically, the rich promise of girlhood,
and her t-door life had given her a
vigor of frame, strength of arm and
wrist, steadiness of nerve, that not
many American girls can show. There
were few jobs of work che had not helped
Robert to do. for as the mother grew
more able to attend to the housework,
Lily gave herself to the care of COWS and
pigs and sheep, walked behind the pillow,
dropping corn, and in busy seasons she
even helped in the harvest field, and
turned up the hay. Sunburnt? Yes. OF
cnuraa hut not tO the datrimanf Of her
fresh bloom; and if she weighed too much
for what Mr.. Howells calls the slim ele-
gance" of our young countrywomen, che
carried her extra pounds with ease and
grace.
Rose had gained in style and in knowl-
edge of the CONNIE ii faut, but her cheeks
had lost their roundness and bloom, while
a deep line had been marked between her
puckered eyebrows. She was kind to her
home folks, and they we're grateful; but
for the life of them they could not enjoy
her critical, sharp, complaining ways.
"The call to higher life may never
come" unused Lily, under another June
moon, after one of Roses visits; it did
not come to ali shepherd lads, and Elisha
left eleven plowmen to finish their fur
rows; but / am content, and shall ever
be thankful that chose the hum-drum
life"
And all the while, slowly, as the wheels
of Providence seem oftenest to move. the
L